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BIO 215 Exam One
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| adaptation | an evolutionary process that changes anatomy, physiology, or behavior, resulting in an increased ability of a population to live in a particular environment. also the anatomical, physiological, or behavioral characteristics produced by this process |
| evolution | a process that changes populations of organisms over time. since this ultimately involves changes in the frequency of heritable traits in a population, we can define evolution more precisely as a change in gene frequencies in a population |
| ecosystem | a biological community plus all of the abiotic factors influencing that community |
| landscape | a heterogeneous area consisting of distinctive patches, or landscape elements, organize into a mosaic-like pattern |
| biosphere | the portions of the earth that support life; also refers to the toal global ecosystem |
| in situ | literally "in place"; management or conservation taking place in the natural habitat of a species |
| epiphyte | a plant, such as an orchid, that grows on the surface of another plant but is not parasitic |
| experiments | a scientific approach to test a hypothesis that typically involves manipulating variable of interest |
| ex situ | literally "out of place" referring to management of conservation taking place outside of a species natural habitat, such as in a zoo or garden |
| natural experiment | an empirical study that takes advantage of natural phenomena that are outside of the control of an investigator to create levevls for comparison, such as before versus after a natural disturbance |
| modelling | a tool used to represent a concept of system such as to make it easier to understand, and/or to make predictions or test hypotheses about it. can be quantitative or conceptual |
| coriolis effect | a phenomenon caused by the rotation of the earth, which produced a deflection of winds and water currents to the right of their direction of travel in the northern hemisphere and to the left of their direction of travel in the southern hemisphere |
| rain shadow effect | the phenomenon of an area receiving lower precipitation because wind-bearing moist air is blocked by mountains or hills, causing the release of moisture before the leeward side, thus producing an arid space behind |
| microclimates | smaller areas that differ in temperature and/or moisture than the prevailing climate; caused by factors such as a distinctive substrate, location, or aspect |
| o (organic) horizon | the most superficial soil layer containing substantial amounts of organic matter, including whole leaves, twigs, other plant parts, and highly fragmented organic matter |
| a horizon | a biologically active soil layer consisting of a mixture of mineral materials, such as clay, silt, and sand, as well as organic material, derived from the overlying o horizons; generally characterized by leaching |
| b horizon | a subsoil in which materials leached from above, generally from the a horizon, accumulate. may be rich in clay, organic matter, iron, and other materials |
| c horizon | a soil layer composed of largely unaltered parent material, little affected by biological activity |
| tropical rain forest | a broadleaf evergreen forest growing in tropical regions where conditions are warm and wet year-round |
| tropical dry forest | a broadleaf deciduous forest growing in tropical regions having pronounced wet and dry seasons; trees drop their leaves during the dry season |
| tropical savanna | a tropical grassland dotted with scattered trees; characterized by pronounced wet and dry seasons and periodic fires |
| desert | an arid biome occupying approximately 20% of the land surface of the earth in which water loss due to evaporation and transpiration by plants exceeds precipitation during most of the year |
| lithosol | soils very low in organic matter and composed of rock fragments |
| caliche | a calcium carbonate--rich hardpan soil horizon; the extent of these formation can be used to determine the age of desrt soils |
| mediterranean woodland and shrubland | biome associated with mold, moist winter conditions and usually with dry summers between about 30 and 40 latitudes. vegetation is usually small, tough leaves and adaptations to fire |
| temperate grassland | growing in middle latitudes that receive between 300 and 1000 mm of annual precipitation, with maximum precipitation usually falling during the summer months |
| temperate forest | deciduous or coniferous forests generally found between 40 and 50 latitude, where annual precipitation averages anywhere from about 650 to over 3000 mm, more winter precipitation than temperate grasslands |
| boreal forests/taiga | northern forests that occupy the area south of arctic tundra, dominated by coniferous trees, but also contain aspen and bith |
| tundra | a northern biome dominated by mosses, lichens, and dwarf willows, receiving low to moderate precipitation and having a very short growing season |
| solifuction | the slow movement of tundra soils down slopes as a result of annual freezing and thawing of surface soil and the actions of water and gravity |
| saltwater | water containing more than 0.5 g of dissolved salts per liter, >0.5 0/00 |
| freshwater | water containing less than 0.5 g of dissolved salts per liter, >0.5 0/00 |
| lentic | concerning still water ecosystems, generally refers to freshwater lakes or ponds or the organisms living in these environments |
| lotic | concerning running water ecosystems, generally refers to freshwater creeks and rivers or the organisms living in these environments |
| limiting resource | an environmental factor used by an organism for which an increase in abundance will correspond to an increase in growth of the organism or its population size |
| light compensation point | when oxygen is produced at the same rate as it is used by photosynthesizing organisms |
| thermocline | a depth zone in a lake or ocean through which temperature changes rapidly with depth, generally about 1 degree C per meter of depth |
| hydrologic cycle | the sun driven cycle of water through the biosphere through evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and runoff |
| gyre | a large scale, circular oceanic current that moves to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere |
| upwelling | movement of deeper ocean water to the surface; occurs most commonly along the west coasts of continents and around Antarctica |
| littoral zone/intertidal zone | the shallowest waters along a lake or ocean shore; where rooted aquatic plants may grow in lakes; the zone between the highest and lowest tides along marine shores |
| neritic zone | a coastal zone of the oceans, extending to the margin of a continental shelf, where the ocean is about 200 m deep |
| oceanic zone | the open ocean beyond the continental shelf with water depths generally greater than 200 m |
| epipelagic zone | the warm, well lighted surface layer of oceans |
| mesopelagic zone | a middle depth zone of the oceans, extending from about 200 to 1000 m |
| abyssal zone | a zone of the ocean depths between 4000 and 6000 m |
| hadal zone | the deepest parts of the oceans, below about 6000 m |
| benthic | an adjective referring to the bottom of bodies of waters such as seas, lakes, and streams |
| pelagic | a term referring to marine life zones or organisms above to bottom |
| thermohaline circulation | a global pattern of water movement in the oceans that is driven by differences in water density, where density is determined primarily by temperature and salinity |
| salinity | the salt content of water |
| fringing reed | a coral reed that forms near the shore of an island or continent |
| barrier reed | a long, ridge like reef the parallels that mainland and is separated from it by a deep lagoon |
| atoll | a circle of low islands and coral reefs encircling a lagoon, generally formed on a submerged mountain called a seamount |
| zonation of species | pattern of separation of species into distinctive vertical habitats or zones |
| mangrove forest | a forest of subtropical and tropical marine shores dominated by salt tolerant woody plants |
| freshwater wetalnds | swamps and marshes, for example, that occupy low lying areas within landscapes and are generally inundated with water for some part of each year |
| estuary | the lowermost part of a river, which is under the influence of the tides and is a mixture of seawater and freshwater |
| riparian zone | the transition between the aquatic environment of a river or stream and the upland terrestrial environment, generally subject to periodic flooding and elevated groundwater table |
| hyporheic zone | a zone below the benthic zone of a stream; a zone of transition between surface water flow and groundwater |
| phreatic zone | the region below the hyporheic zone of a stream; contains groundwater |
| stream order | a numerical classification of streams whereby they occur in a stream drainage network. headwater streams are 1st order, two joining 1st order streams formed a 2nd order, two joining 2nd order forms a 3rd order... |
| flood pulse concept | a theory of river ecology identifying periodic flooding as an essential organizer of river ecosystem structure and functioning |
| biochemical oxygen demand | a measure of organic pollution defined as the amount of dissolved oxygen required by microbes, mainly bacteria and fungi, to decompose the organic matter in a water sample |
| river continuum concept | a model that predicts change in physical structure, dominant organisms, and ecosystem processes along the length of temperate rivers |
| river ecosystem synthesis | a theory of river ecology, predicting that flow conditions and geologic setting may be of greater significance in determining ecological characteristics than the position of a river section along the course of a river system |
| limnetic zone | the open lake beyond the littoral zone |
| epilimnion | the warm, well lighted surface layer of lakes |
| metalimnion | a depth zone between the epilimnion and hypolimnion characterized by rapid decreases in temperature and increases in water density with depth |
| hypolimnion | the deepest layer of a lake below the epilimnion and thermocline |
| oligotrophic | a term generally referring to lakes of low nutrient content, abundant oxygen, and low primary production |
| eutrophic | a term applied to lakes, and sometimes to other ecosystems, with high nutrient content and high biological production |
| eutrophication | nutrient enrichment of an ecosystem, generally resulting in increased primary production and reduced biodiversity, in lakes, this leads to seasonal algal blooms, reduced water clarity, and often periodic fish mortality as a consequence of oxygen depletion |
Created by:
ethompson238
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